The Mind of a Dictator and His Enablers by Jacob G. Hornberger June 2, 2014 The New York Times recently carried a profile of Egyptian military dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The piece discloses what goes through not only the mind of a dictator but also the minds of the U.S. officials who continue to support him with money and armaments. The article begins with a promise by Sisi to install energy-efficient bulbs in every ...
The War on Terrorism Is One Fine Scam by Jacob G. Hornberger May 30, 2014 Throughout the Cold War, the proponents of the national-security state assured us that the only reason the United States needed to adopt this totalitarian-like apparatus was because of the international communist conspiracy emanating from the Soviet Union and Red China. Once the Cold War was won, the statists said, America could restore the limited-government constitutional republic that the Constitution ...
Pull Out the Impeachment Papers by Jacob G. Hornberger May 29, 2014 Ever since Edward Snowden revealed the NSA’s secret massive surveillance scheme to the American people and the rest of the world, President Obama and NSA officials have steadfastly maintained that their surveillance scheme has been entirely legal and focused on finding “terrorists.” While millions of Americans have had information regarding their telephone calls secretly scooped up by the NSA, the ...
Thailand, Chile, and U.S. Support of Military Coups by Jacob G. Hornberger May 28, 2014 Despite standard superficial expressions of indignation, U.S. officials are undoubtedly ecstatic over the military coup in Thailand. That’s because they believe that an essential step in the achievement of democracy is the smashing of democracy by a country’s military (that is, when the voters elect the wrong person), followed by a military dictatorship devoted to restoring democracy. Chile provides a ...
American Soldiers Did Not Die Defending Our Freedom by Jacob G. Hornberger May 27, 2014 I was at the Washington Nationals baseball game yesterday. Whenever I attend a Nats game, there is an air of militarism surrounding the game, but attending on Memorial Day helps to remind us what a truly militarized society America has become. After all, what in the world does baseball, a quite peaceful and enjoyable pastime, have to do with America’s ...
Libertarian Patriotism vs. Statist Patriotism by Jacob G. Hornberger May 26, 2014 Today, Memorial Day, we are exhorted to display our patriotism by supporting the troops. That’s the statist version of patriotism. It involves a deference to authority and a conformity of mindset that induces citizens to automatically support the troops regardless of what the troops are doing. The libertarian version of patriotism is completely different. It depends on an independent mindset, ...
A Military Coup in Thailand by Jacob G. Hornberger May 23, 2014 In response to a military coup in Thailand this week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement saying: “There is no justification for this military coup. While we value our long friendship with the Thai people, this act will have negative implications for the U.S.-Thai relationship, especially for our relationship with the Thai military.” Who is Kerry kidding? ...
Kudos to President Correa by Jacob G. Hornberger May 22, 2014 Good for Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa for kicking USAID out of his country. If only every nation in the world would do that. While part of USAID’s activities ostensibly relate to helping “the poor,” that’s just a cover to disguise the real mission of the agency: to act in tandem with the CIA to engage in political activity designed ...
A Rotten Criminal-Justice System by Jacob G. Hornberger May 21, 2014 A good sign of a rotten criminal-justice system is the extent to which it is putting good, ordinary people into jail for inane criminal offenses while letting real criminals walk the streets free and carefree. Unfortunately, that is the type of system that now exists in the United States. Recently, a man named Michael Steinberg was sentenced to 42 months ...
A Glimmer of Light from Switzerland by Jacob G. Hornberger May 20, 2014 Swiss citizens have provided a glimmer of light within the statist darkness into which the United States has plunged. In a national vote, they rejected a proposed national minimum wage of $25 an hour. Even better, they understood why the proposal was going to be destructive to working people, especially those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Notice something ...
Conservatives Are Doomed by Jacob G. Hornberger May 19, 2014 If you attend any conservative conference, I will guarantee you that you will encounter the following mantra countless times: “free enterprise, private property, and limited government.” You will hear it in speeches, read it in brochures, hear it in casual conversations, and see it prominently displayed at exhibit booths. It is the guiding mantra of the conservative movement. There is ...
The Student-Loan Scam by Jacob G. Hornberger May 16, 2014 The federal student loan program ranks among the biggest scams of the welfare-state way of life that modern-day Americans have embraced. An article in the Washington Post entitled “College Debt Is Still Keeping Grads from Buying Homes,” points out that “young people are still drowning in student loans, and that debt is holding them back from reaching grown-up financial ...
